


skip straight to the happy ending

by rocketsfindplanets



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-16 04:23:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13628508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rocketsfindplanets/pseuds/rocketsfindplanets
Summary: “Like you don’t want to see what it would be like to date Connor McDavid. It’s just like, a day or two, anyway, right? It’ll be fine.”





	skip straight to the happy ending

**Author's Note:**

> I said I’d do a few drabbles... not sure what happened here.
> 
> “My ex just invited me to their wedding and I need you to be my date so it doesn’t look like I’ve spent the last few years failing to get over them” requested by anonymous on Tumblr.

“Noah already said no,” he says, desperate.

Connor still doesn’t look entirely convinced, and he doesn’t know what else to say.

“Please?” he tries, trying to convey how much he means it. “Seriously, I’ll make it up to you or whatever, okay? I don’t want this any more than you do.”

He watches Connor think about it, and he can see it in his face when he decides to go with it. “Okay.”

 

 

 

 

 

Jack is supposed to be over it. It’s been years, actual years, since college, and he should be over it.

He kind of is. He kind of also hasn’t stopped thinking about him, since he hasn’t really pursued a real relationship since then, and the idea of him getting married is fucking crazy.

So of course, when Jack received the invitation, he had panicked. He doesn’t want to look like he never got over it. Noah had been his first choice, he really had been.

Noah had also laughed in his face, and suggested he ask Connor, which.

They have their whole thing. They’re not supposed to like each other. If they talk and text sometimes, and don’t hate each other, the media isn’t supposed to know about it, nobody is supposed to know about it.

If he’s kind of into Connor, nobody is supposed to know about it, either. Nobody can know.

Except Noah does know, because he reads Jack like a book, and of fucking course he would make this about Connor. Leading up to it, Jack almost manages to convince himself he doesn’t actually need a fake date. He still asks, though.

The most surprising part is probably when Connor agrees to it. Jack hasn’t really planned that far ahead. He calls Noah, afterward, to bitch about it and blame him.

Noah laughs at him, again.

“Like you don’t want to see what it would be like to date Connor McDavid. It’s just like, a day or two, anyway, right? It’ll be fine,” Noah reassures him, because he is actually Jack’s friend, and he reminds him why on occasion.

“I guess,” Jack agrees. He makes sure he doesn’t sound too happy about it.

 

 

 

 

 

“Yes, I promise,” Jack says, for the millionth time. “It’s a really small, private thing. Nobody who’s not there is going to know, he’d be screwed if they did.”

Connor doesn’t look sure, and Jack is wondering why he even said yes. “I know,” he says. “So, we… like… date online?”

He shrugs. Sometimes, when the Sabres play the Oilers, Jack disappears to go see Connor, anyway. They can make it believable. “I guess so. Maybe, like… I don’t know.” Noah made everything sound so easy. “Maybe not the draft, but… Hm. Sometime during the season, maybe?”

“Rookie year?” Connor asks.

“Yeah. I don’t know, I’ll just wing it while we’re there.”

“Sure.”

It’s happening at a pretty small place, a church just outside of Boston. Jack got them a hotel in town for the night, and it’s weird to think he’s going to be staying there with Connor. He’ll have to get used to it, though, if they’re supposed to be dating and all.

Maybe he should have said he couldn’t go to the wedding at all.

Eventually, Connor speaks up, again. He’s more talkative than normal, though that’s not really saying much.

“I didn’t know you and Evan dated.”

“Yeah,” Jack says awkwardly.

Connor doesn’t know a lot of things about him. He doesn’t plan on telling him about the friends with benefits thing he had had with Noah, once, and he had never planned on telling him about the dating thing he had had with Evan.

“Oh.”

“It was, like, definitely not serious,” Jack adds, and he doesn’t know why. It’s not true. He watches Connor relax, a bit, though, and he thinks it was the right thing to say.

“That’s, uh, cool. Well. I’m glad you two are still friends.”

Jack smiles. “Not like we really have a choice. But yeah, it’s chill.”

“That’s good.”

He doesn’t answer, and they both fall quiet until they get to the hotel. Just a day or two, he hears Noah saying. Just a day or two.

 

 

 

 

 

“Is it okay if I kiss you?”

They’ve both showered, and they’re sitting on their respective beds in the hotel, Sports Jeopardy droning on in the background even if neither of them are really watching it. It’s getting late.

“Right now?” Connor asks, and Jack can just barely see his face flushing under the light of the TV.

He’s so naive, sometimes, Jack thinks. “I mean, I guess?” he says, because no, that’s not what he meant, at all, but. May as well.

Connor nods slightly, a bit jerky. Jack walks over to him because he doesn’t think it’s going to happen otherwise, sitting down next to him.

“I just think it’ll be more realistic, if we can pretend we’ve been together for a while,” he explains. He raises a hand to gently brush his fingers over Connor’s cheek, trying not to think about it too much.

“Yeah,” Connor agrees.

He doesn’t waste time after that, leaning in to kiss him. It’s gentle and sweet, not like Jack had ever imagined.

(Not that Jack has let himself imagine this, but. If he had.)

When he pulls away, Connor’s eyes are shut and his cheeks are pink, more obvious up close.

He takes the chance to kiss both of his cheeks, hand falling to cup the back of his neck.

“Your turn?” Jack offers.

Connor blinks his eyes open. “Right,” he says. “Right.”

When Connor presses their lips together, it’s shaky, not as certain. If he wasn’t kissing him, Jack would roll his eyes.

Connor has gotten so better about that shit, being all nervous in front of the media and such. Not like he’s had the choice. Still, here, when they’re alone, he could almost mistake him for the shy Otter who he’d met in 2015.

“Was that good?” he asks, and Jack can barely hear him. He smiles, maybe just on the edge of a smirk.

“Yeah. Just… relax a bit, okay? I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I know,” Connor is quick to say, voice taking on a sudden, defensive edge. It throws Jack off a bit, but he only nods.

“Sure. But if you freak out tomorrow, I’m going to die.”

“I won’t!”

“Good.” Jack presses a quick peck to his lips and goes back over to his own bed. “Now get some sleep. We don’t have to be there until 2, so I figure we can go do something in the morning, maybe get some lunch together?”

It takes Connor longer to recover.

Jack is almost surprised he’s not freaking out over this more himself, but he does have a lot more riding on it. He spends a lot more time around Evan than Connor does, that’s for sure.

“That’ll be good. You setting an alarm?” Connor eventually says.

“Yeah, I can get you up.”

“Awesome.” Connor lies down pretty quickly, burying himself under the blankets, enough so that Jack can’t see him anymore at all.

Jack smiles at him, fond, knowing that Connor can’t see him, either. He texts Noah, knowing that even if it’s kind of late, he’ll still be up.

_Fuck you_

Noah texts back fast, which comes as no surprise.  _Having fun then?_

Jack turns his phone off and plugs it in. He needs to get some sleep, too, if he wants to make it through tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

They get up early enough to go to breakfast at the hotel. They rush through it a little bit, just in case, but nobody seems to recognise them, anyway. It’s kind of nice, to just be able to relax together.

Or, just relax. It would be nice with or without Connor, Jack thinks. He refuses to admit that Connor makes it better.

They spend some time in their room, after that, relaxing. They both get tired of it eventually, though.

“Is there anything in particular you want to do?” Jack asks as they walk out to his car.

“Not really? You know the area, right? I’m sure you’ll pick something fine.”

The answer doesn’t surprise him. “Well, what do you like? There are a lot of museums and historical things, a zoo, we could just go walk around stores…”

“That would be fine,” Connor interrupts. “We definitely don’t have to pay to get in anywhere.”

“Connor. We both make more than enough to get into a museum or something.”

“Really, we can just walk around somewhere, I’ll be happy.”

“Fine.”

Jack unlocks the car and opens the door for Connor before going around to get in himself. The small gesture seems to fluster Connor, which as cute as it is, only serves to make Jack more worried. This is gonna be rough.

He drives them a bit outside of town, mostly just because he doesn’t want to get caught out with McDavid by somebody who happens to recognise them. He’s not as familiar with things, out here, but that’s okay.

Eventually they come upon a mall that Jack’s never been to, mostly because when he’d been in college, he didn’t have to worry about going out with his friends.

“We’ve got two or three hours,” Jack says as he parks, trying to count in time for them to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up ahead of time.

“Sounds good. You want to eat here?”

“Yeah, we can. Just let me know if you see somewhere.”

When they get inside, Connor wants to go to some sports store. Jack is kind of amazed, but follows him inside anyway, hoping the employees won’t recognise them.

They don’t. Jack asks Connor if he wants to get a jersey, grinning as he picks up one with Chara on the back. It makes Connor laugh, which is a win in his books.

“Okay, what about this?” Jack asks, holding up a Red Sox shirt. Connor groans, and Jack buys it.

The clerk smiles at them as she rings him up, and Jack starts to think that this is going to be okay.

“I can’t even believe you just bought that,” Connor says as they leave, shaking his head.

“Hey, it’s for you. I expect to see you wearing it at some point.”

“No way.”

Jack decides not to push it, because he knows Connor’s a sucker. He’ll go for it later.

After that, he just lets Connor guide them, following him into whatever random store he’s decided is interesting now, occasionally buying something for him.

Connor protests every time, but Jack insists. By the time they’re sitting down in the food court, Connor seems pretty much used to it.

That’s good. Connor needs to be used to that kind of stuff, for today, at least. It makes Jack’s heart do a little flip, too, the idea of Connor getting used to him spoiling him like that. He wants that, more than he can say.

Jack had offered to take him to someplace fancier, but he could only push Connor so far. If he wanted fast food, he was gonna get fast food.

So, they’re having fast food.

“This has been fun,” Connor says, seeming so much more relaxed than he had when they’d first gotten into Boston.

“Easy to say that when you’re the one getting a gift every other store.”

He says it as a joke, but he can see the concern flash across Connor’s face.

“Are you not…”

“Connor, I’m having fun, too,” Jack assures him. “Seriously. I asked you to come here, remember?”

Connor relaxes. “Alright.”

They eat, and as they leave, Jack leans over to kiss the corner of Connor’s lips.

 

 

 

 

 

“Are we gonna, like, fake break up?” Connor asks, while he’s tying his tie.

Jack looks away from his half-buttoned shirt to glance over at him. “What?”

“Like, after all of this. Anybody who’s there will want to know about us, later, right? So are we gonna fake a breakup or something?”

He thinks about it for a minute. He’s been more focused on the wedding himself, so he hasn’t really gotten that far. “I guess? We can worry about it later. Or I can, maybe, you probably won’t have to. Mostly Boston guys here, I think.”

Connor nods. “Makes sense.”

Jack finishes buttoning his shirt, and goes for his own tie. It’s not like it’s the fanciest thing in the world, but he still wants them to look good.

“Here…” he says after a minute, going over to the bags from the mall. He pulls out a bottle, and walks it over to Connor.

“What’s this?” Connor asks, but after looking at it, he picks it up pretty quick. “Oh my god, when did you buy this?”

Jack smiles, pretty pleased with himself. “While you went to get that smoothie, maybe halfway through?”

“You think I should…”

“If you want to,” Jack says, half-shrugging. Yes, he thinks. He doesn’t want to push things too far, too soon, though. Or at all. After today, it’s over, he reminds himself.

Connor puts it on while Jack fixes himself up in the mirror. He tries to not let it get to him, because it’s just cologne, nobody will ever know. But. He picked it, and Connor is wearing it, and that’s a lot.

“Almost ready to go?” Jack asks when they’re both done.

“Yeah. Whenever you are.”

 

 

 

 

 

“I don’t think I can do this.”

They’re almost there, and when Connor says that, Jack feels panic spike up in his chest. “What do you mean? Connor, it’s a little bit late for that.”

“I know, I know, I’m just freaking out… what if I mess it up for you?”

He feels his chest warm at how sweet that is. “Please, you’re gonna do fine. Just let me do most of the talking. It makes sense anyway, they’re my friends.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Connor sighs. “Sorry, I’m just…”

“I get it,” Jack says.

“I doubt it.”

Jack spares him a glance when they get to a red light. “Really. I’m nervous as hell. I still don’t know that this was the right thing to do.”

“Well.” Connor licks his lips. “I’ll try to maks it as easy as possible for you?”

Jack smiles. “That’s all either of us can do.”

 

 

 

 

 

When they get to the church, they sit there for at least five minutes. Jack is too nervous for this. He texts Noah, again, despite mever having answered his question from the night before.

_Wish me luck._

“You ready?” he asks.

“No.”

“Good, me neither. Let’s go.”

Jack puts out his hand as they get out of the car, and Connor takes it. He leans in, kisses his cheek. “It’s gonna be fine,” he whispers.

They walk in like that, hand in hand, ans Jack tries to stay calm. If he can’t, Connor definitely can’t.

He spots John almost immediately, and takes a breath. “MacLeod!” he calls, raising his free hand in a wave. John spins around and smiles when he sees him, but then immediately pauses to process.

“Eichs,” he greets, waving back and walking toward them. “What’s up, man?”

“Not much, not much…” He clears his throat, looking over at Connor. “This is John MacLeod, he was my roommate in college. John, this is Connor.”

“Uh, trust me, I know,” John says. He’s kind of staring, and Jack doesn’t know what to do about that. “Nice to meet you?”

Connor smiles, shy. “Yeah, nice to meet you.”

John nods. “Hey, Jack. Can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure.” He hesitantly lets go of Connor and follows John a few paces away.

John just stares at him for a long moment, before whispering, “Dude, what the fuck?”

“What?” Jack asks innocently, as if he doesn’t know.

“You brought fucking Connor McDavid?”

He shrugs, a bit uncomfortable. “What, you didn’t think I was single, did you?”

“I can’t fucking believe you. Does Evan know?”

“No, we’re pretty private,” Jack sighs. “It’s fine, though, he said to bring a date if I had one.”

“Dude.”

Jack starts to wonder if he’s gonna get to have this conversation with everybody there. “Sorry if you’re jealous,” he says, starting back over toward Connor. “Where’s everybody else at?” he asks, out loud, this time.

John takes a moment to respond. “Here, follow me,” he says, still eyeing them a bit warily. Jack doesn’t like it. “I haven’t been here too long either, Evan didn’t want to do anything big. We practically had to force him to invite people at all.”

He chuckles, taking Connor’s hand as they start to walk again. “Doesn’t surprise me. It’s kind of risky, I guess, to have a ceremony at all?”

“For sure. Are you guys, gonna…”

Jack blushes a bit, and he’s sure Connor’s face is red, too. “We haven’t really, uh, thought that far ahead.”

“Gotcha,” John says, like he understands. Eventually they get to a room where a few other guys are standing around. Not many. The few there are, though, all stop to stare at the three of them as they walk in. “Jack’s here,” he announces.

He doesn’t recognise most of them. Not Evan’s friends, he assumes. He waves to all of them, smiling. “Hey.”

Nobody seems to want to come up to them, which is fine by Jack. Some of the guys Jack knows come up and say hi. Nobody questions Connor, at least not out loud. He prefers it that way.

A lot of the guys leave, at some point, all going to help with preparations, and such. Jack knows that if he had wanted to be, he could be part of that, too. It would have hurt a little bit too much, maybe.

He’s been pretty happy in the past day, though, hanging out with Connor. Maybe he can move on.

The time before the wedding starts passes pretty quickly, and Jack doesn’t get to see much of Evan, or of anybody, really. It’s not like he and Connor are trying to distance themselves, but. If they were, who could blame them?

The wedding ceremony itself goes fine. Jack may or may not cry.

It’s clear how happy Evan is with Logan, a guy who Jack can honestly say he doesn’t recognise, at all. If Evan’s been able to keep it secret, it’ll be reasonable that Jack’s been able to keep Connor secret, too.

They all go to a room that’s been set up with drinks, afterward, with tables for when they presumably have dinner. Everybody’s trying to talk to the newlyweds, so Jack is happy to get two glasses of wine and sit down with Connor.

“Well? This isn’t too bad,” he murmurs, rubbing a thumb over Connor’s knuckles.

It’s intimate, in a way kissing in their hotel room hadn’t been. Maybe because this is out in front of everybody. He doesn’t really know. Doesn’t really care.

“No, it’s not,” Connor agrees. He smiles, looking up at Jack. “You look nice.”

A smile also teases at Jack’s lips, unable to help it. “You don’t have to fake compliments, too,” he chuckles.

“Trust me, I’m not faking it.”

For the first time, Jack entertains the thought that Connor might be into him, too.

At first, Jack remembers, it had just been about sex. Connor was good at hockey, is good at hockey, so fucking good, and Jack had been pretty into it. So yeah, he had kind of wanted to fuck him, no big deal.

And then he actually met him, and, well.

He can’t exactly pinpoint when it turned from  _I want to fuck you_  to  _I want to kiss you and hold your hand_ , but he’s definitely there, now, so.

If he’s thinking it, surely it’s possible that Connor could be thinking it. Not likely, maybe, but possible. At least for a day, he can imagine.

“Yeah? Well, you look better than I do.”

“Guess we must be a pretty hot couple, then?”

Jack chokes on a laugh. He’s seen a million things calling Connor boring, saying he has no personality. If only they knew.

At some point, they actually make their way up to where Evan and Logan are. Evan smiles wide when he sees him, standing up to hug him. “Jack, I’m glad you could come.”

“Me, too,” he says, hugging him back, then pulling back to smile. “Sorry I didn’t get you anything, since this was kind of last minute and all. We’ll have to go shopping sometime in Buffalo.”

“For sure,” Evan agrees.

Jack still remembers how well he fits into his arms, which isn’t the best thing in the world to be thinking about at his fucking wedding, but still. Nothing has changed, as far as that goes, other than that it feels wrong, now.

“And Connor. Wasn’t expecting to see you here?”

Connor smiles sheepishly, shrugs. “Well,” he says, “Jack said he was supposed to bring a date.”

That seems to confirm Evan’s suspicions. “Oh. So you two…”

“Yeah,” Jack says, smiling and reaching over to grab Connor’s hand, squeezing it.

“That’s… wow. Jack, I’m so happy for you,” he says, and Jack can tell he’s still processing it, but this is a better reaction than he maybe would have expected.

“Thank you.” He turns toward Logan, then, holding out a hand. “Nice to finally meet you, by the way. I’m Jack, this is my boyfriend Connor.”

Logan looks a little more taken aback than Evan, which makes sense. “Yeah. Nice to meet you, both of you.”

Connor shakes his hand after, though he still stays quiet. Jack doesn’t really blame him.

Dinner does start, eventually, but it’s more about socialising than actually eating dinner.

“Yeah, we were friends from the draft and all, but when Connor got hurt he came to visit, and it blossomed from there…”

The first time he mentions Connor’s injury, he can see and feel him tense a bit, but by the time they’re getting ready for the toast, they have a pretty believable story ironed out.

In all fairness, Connor did come visit him, once, during the injury. Stayed with him in Buffalo during a long home stretch for the Sabres. It had been extremely awkward and not full of realising their love for each other, but it’s only a slight exaggeration.

The rest of dinner is pretty uneventful, and they all take a short break before the dances. Connor is sitting quietly and fidgeting with his sleeve when Jack comes back with more wine, feeling a little bit loose. He doesn’t really want to get drunk, but he figures nothing’s wrong with getting a bit buzzed.

“Relax,” he says as he sits down, setting Connor’s glass down next to him. He drops his voice to add, “Not too much longer and you never have to think about this again.”

“Yeah, I know.” Connor takes the wine and looks into the glass. He looks pretty deep in thought, and Jack wishes he could read him better.

“Okay.” Jack hesitates. “If something’s wrong, let me know?”

Connor looks up. “I… sure.”

Jack figures that’s as good as he’s going to get, so he drops it.

As they sit together, quiet, he finds himself yearning for the morning, again. When Connor had been so calm about the whole thing, happy to be himself around Jack. He wants that, now.

“I love you,” he says, looking up and into Connor’s eyes. He takes one of his hands, the one he hasn’t been using to drink.

Connor squeezes his hand in return. “I love you, too,” he murmurs, and his hesitancy can surely be passed off as shyness. He wouldn’t be used to all of this in public, not even remotely, so it makes sense.

Jack doesn’t stop himself from taking what he wants.

He leans in over and kisses him, gentle, lingering. His eyes fall shut for a moment. Just him and Connor, nobody else to worry about.

“Was that good?” Jack asks.

Connor breathes out a laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, that was good.”

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh, no,” Jack says, shaking his head and attempting to start back toward where he’d been sitting. “I don’t dance.”

“Jack, come on,” John insists, tugging at his arm with a smile.

Things are winding down, they’ve all had more to drink and a few songs have been played, and Jack knows that he’s not getting out of this one. He shoots Connor an apologetic look.

Connor smiles a bit, almost pitying, as if he’s not also a part of this. As the next song starts, Connor reaches out to take one of Jack’s hands. Jack sighs, letting his other hand go to Connor’s waist.

“Last song, right?” Connor whispers. “You’re almost done.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you?”

“You don’t really seem like you want to be here.”

“I do,” Jack quickly says, and Connor just smiles, again.

For the duration of the song, they just kind of sway together in place to the music. Evan and Logan seem to actually know how to dance but nobody else does, which is good for Jack, so they don’t look out of place.

The song is over before they know it. Connor’s head is resting on his shoulder, now, something Jack had barely noticed while they were in the moment. They stay like that for a moment before pulling apart, only their hands staying linked together. Jack doesn’t mind that at all.

They’ve all already taken a million pictures, but they’re taking more, now, less formal, more of what you’d expect from getting a group of hockey players together. (And hockey fans? Jack assumes Logan is a hockey fan.)

After the last of a million pictures, where Jack is standing right next to Evan, Evan grabs his arm and pulls him off to the side. Jack looks over at Connor, feeling a bit bad for abandoning him, but he seems to be getting along fine with the guys, so.

“Hey.”

“What’s up?” Jack asks, looking back at Evan. He’s smiling, bright, and Jack can’t blame him. He did just get married, after all.

“I just wanted to say, like… you and McDavid. You guys seem really happy, and I’m so glad that you found somebody who can make you smile like that.” He looks out toward Logan, fond. “I definitely know how you feel.”

Evan seems so genuinely happy that Jack almost wants to tell him it’s fake. He thinks about what Connor had said, about faking a breakup. It’s gonna break Evan’s heart, he knows that much already.

“Yeah,” Jack agrees, sighing. “It’s… not easy, but. It’s worth it, for him.”

Evan claps him on the back. “I get that. Thanks again for coming, Jack.”

“Anytime for you.”

He goes over to Connor, who’s having a conversation with somebody about the Otters, of all things. Jack rolls his eyes, putting a hand on Connor’s lower back. Connor jumps a bit, but doesn’t move until he’s done talking.

“Hey,” he says, soft.

“Hey.” He withdraws his hand, putting it into his pocket, instead. “Ready to go?”

“Oh.” Connor looks around, nodding slowly. “Yeah, I guess we should.”

“Cool.” Jack says his goodbyes to everybody he knows, and when John teases him about Connor, he just flips him off before he hugs him. It’s whatever.

He and Connor walk out together, and Jack feels relieved. Evan is happy, and Evan is no longer worrying about Jack not ever finding love again. Everything seems great.

“Okay, so,” Jack says as they get into his car. “I booked the hotel for another night because the checkout time is before noon? You don’t actually, uh, have to stay another night, if you want to catch a flight out or whatever.”

“It’ll be easier to just catch one tomorrow, I think. If you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, no, not at all. Sounds good to me.”

After that, the drive back to the hotel is silent. Jack wonders if they’ll ever have this again, a time when they can hang out and act like they like each other. Even if they do, Jack doesn’t think it’ll be the same, not without the kissing and everything.

_He in love yet?_

Jack sees it in the elevator, and he scoffs.

“What?” Connor asks, looking over at him.

Jack just shakes his head. “Nothing, just Noah,” he explains, and Connor nods.

Once they’re in their room, Jack is happy to change out of the suit and throw on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. When he spares Connor a glance, he sees  _Red Sox_ , and he chokes on anything he might have been going to say.

“Only today,” Connor warns, but he’s smiling.

If Jack wasn’t fucked already, he definitely is now.

“You’re so dumb,” he says, but his voice isn’t sharp at all, because how could it be when he’s so head over heels?

“You got it for me, you’re dumb.”

Jack smiles and shakes his head, turning on the TV. “You wouldn’t wear it if we were going out somewhere.”

“So?”

He knows Connor is right. He’s wearing it at all, is the thing. It warms something in him, the thought that Connor doesn’t even like the Red Sox, but he’s still wearing it, because Jack bought it.

He turns on Food Network. “You like Cutthroat Kitchen?”

Connor sits down next to him. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, Connor leaves for a flight to Toronto.

It’s not like Jack expected anything different. It’s not like he expected Connor to be in love and want to stay with him in Boston, or whatever. Dreamed, maybe, but not expected.

As he’s leaving the airport, Jack makes a call.

“Hey. I’m coming over.”

“Okay?” It sounds like Noah’s outside, the wind muffling his voice.

“I figure I’ll head home at some point, but your place is a lot closer than mine.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m the only one home right now, I’m just on a walk. Let me know when you get here?”

“Sounds good.”

He hangs up, after that, and drives. Driving to Noah’s place feels familiar, and when he pulls onto the right street, it’s a nice break from everything he’s had to figure out in the past day or so.

He spots Noah on the street and smiles, pulling into his driveway and getting out.

“Nice to see you again, Eichel,” Noah greets, grinning as he comes up to him. “I thought for sure you’d abandoned me for McDavid forever.”

Jack scoffs. “As if. He left for Canada first thing this morning.”

“Seriously?” Noah starts toward the front door and Jack follows.

“Yeah. It’s not really too surprising, it was just a favor. I owe him.”

“Right.” Noah opens the door and steps in, looking back at him. “He came into town before you mentioned the wedding, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Jack follows him in, squinting suspiciously. “Because I asked him to?”

Noah laughs. “Jack, you’re such a fucking idiot. He seriously came all the way to Boston for no reason, just because you asked?”

“He’s visited me before, it’s not a big deal.”

“Dude. He’s so into you.”

Jack swallows. “Can we not talk about this?”

“No. If I don’t make you, nobody ever will,” he says, and Jack knows he’s right.

So, despite himself, he follows Noah up to his room. He sprawls out on the bed, staring up at the familiar ceiling.

Noah looks at him. “Talk.”

Jack half shrugs, as much as he can manage. “I don’t think… Like, Evan’s married now and all, but it’s not like anybody can ever know. I don’t think I could do that.”

“You like him, though?”

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m serious,” Noah insists. “Like, enough that you’d be willing to try it?”

“I guess.” Jack turns so that he can look at Noah. He pauses, then says, “He wore a Red Sox shirt for me.”

At that, Noah laughs. “Okay. I really hope you’re not going to, like, make me force you to talk to him.”

“About what?” Jack asks. “He’s already gone, it’s not like I can do anything now. And I am definitely not going to Toronto.”

Noah nods, understanding.

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and Jack starts to wonder if he’s going to at all.

“Call him?”

Jack sighs. “I don’t think it would be the same, you know?”

“Yeah, no, I didn’t think it was a good idea either.”

Noah continues to muse out loud about it, and at some point, Jack stops listening. He doesn’t even think Noah notices. He grabs his phone, instead, and pulls up Connor’s contact.

_Has your plane left yet_

_No, it’s delayed, not sure why. They’re trying to figure it out right now._

Jack jumps up, reading his screen a few times. “Noah, I know I just got here, but I gotta run.”

He doesn’t spare Noah an explanation, opting to just leave. He hits call as he rushes out to his car.

“Jack? What’s going on?“

“Shit, Connor. I’ll pay for your ticket or whatever, but don’t leave, okay?”

“Okay…”

Jack had brought Connor to the airport this morning so he knows the best way to get there from here off the top of his head, maybe going a few above the speed limit.

When he gets inside he goes to around where Connor should be. “Alright, talk to me. I’m in the airport?”

“Are you serious?” Connor asks, sounding shocked.

He spots Connor before he can answer, and hangs up, rushing over to him.

“Connor.”

“Jack…” Connor looks up at him, brow furrowing. “What are you…”

“I’m driving home, today,” he says, swallowing. “And I, uh… wanted to know if you wanted to come with?”

He watches Connor’s face flash through, like, a million different expressions. “Why?”

“I want to…” Jack pauses to look around. There aren’t a huge number of people around, but there is a flight delayed, so. He settles his gaze back on Connor. “Do you trust me?”

 

 

 

 

 

The drive to Jack’s place takes almost an hour, and neither of them say a single word the whole time. Connor fiddles with his radio for a bit and lands on something pop. Jack doesn’t have it in him to protest.

Jack takes Connor inside, and to his bedroom, and sits down.

Connor lingers in the doorway, uncertain, and Jack doesn’t blame him.

He’s so trusting. Jack likes that. He came to Boston for him, and now he’s in Chelmsford for him. It feels unreal. Maybe Noah is right.

“I, uh. I told you I never really got over Evan, yeah?”

Connor tenses up, nods.

“Well. I think I might be ready to get over him.”

He pauses again, and it looks like Connor is about to say something. Jack keeps talking before he gets the chance.

“I used to really hate you, just because you were you? But you’re good at hockey and you’re hot, and I think I want to try this.”

Connor steps into the room, then. “Like…”

“Yeah.” Jack pats the spot beside him, and lets Connor sit down. “I want to do this for real.”

He leans in to kiss Connor, not entirely unfamiliar, now. It’s different. More permanent.

Connor kisses back, and that feels different, too. He had melted into it, always, but this time it just feels so real, like they both really mean it. Maybe because they do.

When Jack pulls away, he looks into Connor’s eyes, sighing. “So?”

“Yeah... yeah.” Connor clears his throat, looking away, face red. It’s the cutest thing Jack has ever seen. “I’ve... I want this, too, I just thought you needed a date for the wedding, I didn’t think...”

“I bought you expensive cologne, Connor.” Jack smiles easy, now. It’s easy to, now that he knows he’s not alone in how he feels.

“I guess that’s true.”

Jack kisses him again, short, playful. “This is gonna be hard,” he starts, “but I think I really want to try with you. I think it’s worth it.”

It’s not some huge fairy tale ending, Jack thinks. He doesn’t care, though, he doesn’t want to skip straight to being totally in love, to the happy ending. He wants to experience it all, with Connor.

He can practically hear Noah mocking him for being so sappy.

“Stay in Massachusetts for a while?” Jack asks.

“I think I can do that. No more Red Sox stuff, though.”

“Maybe.”

Connor smiles. “And no fake breakup, now, I guess?”

Jack can’t help but to laugh. “No fake breakup,” he agrees. “Now that I have you, I don’t intend on letting you go that easy.”

Connor laughs, too. “Me neither.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you like this, have your own request, have ideas, anything, please comment or hit me up on tumblr @ tylerparsons !!!! this is legit just a drabble request that got a bit out of hand (so sorry if the pacings weird) so you never know............................


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